In Australia, we have these events called Working Bees, where people gather to work on something together, which is generally cleaning and maintenance of a school or perhaps an apartment building common area. It is essentially so the work can be done for free with everyone each doing a little bit of work, so it isn't all left in the hands of a few. I am thinking if I should call one with friends to help paint the house...
We found out today that one of the people who gave us advice on some of the paints, didn't really know what they were talking about, which has changed our schedule again, pushing it back by two weeks. It is now very close that we won't be able to move in to the upstairs area by Christmas, which throws a very big spanner in the works, as we are meant to be hosting this year and definitely don't have the space where we are for potentially 18 people.
It is all about the floor. The paint e are using is an oil-based, hard-wearing floor paint and while it takes only a day or two before the second coat can be applied, it takes four weeks (or more) before it has hardened enough to support furniture without the feet leaving marks. We were informed it would be two. We aren't ready to do the floors yet, plus we have to have people to come in and install the wall radiators and they have no slots until early December. This means, we have to do the first coat before they arrive and then protect the floors so that when they are doing the installation, they don't destroy the paint.
Part of the "fun" of renovating an old house is all of the moving parts that have to be considered, and then the shuffling around when plans fall through or like us, there have been various things we didn't consider. Throw a sprinkling of tradespeople into the mix and nothing is really going to come together perfectly. What all of this means is that the days are going to get a little fuller and longer. Bigger the better right?
So, I might have to invoke the law of friendship which states,
Whenever someone needs help painting on short notice, all friends must gather at the household in need to provide service for a working bee. Whilst no payment can be demanded, the household in question, will provide pizza and beer.
I don't like having to lean on the legal framework however, so before I send out the call to rollers, I will see if I can smash out the painting work in the next couple days - though I also have a couple weeks of busy "real work" upcoming. Our daughter spent some hours today at her Mummi and Pappa's place and will again tomorrow, which gives a chance to get a fair bit done if we work effectively. To do this, tonight I will make sure that all of the base painting is done, so that the first layer of the topcoat will go on, at least in the places that will have radiators on the walls.
The feeling that we are nearing some partial completion is growing strong now, as is the anticipation for being able to move in. Finding out the real drying time of the paint has meant adjusting a tight schedule, but I am hoping that we will manage it and look back on the late nights with fond memories in how they added to our home. At least for me, I think that it is this kind of work that brings the value of connection through effort invested.
I am liking the house more and more the longer we are here, but I wonder if I would like it as much if we had all the money we needed to renovate and paid someone to do it all while we rented a nice clean apartment somewhere. I think that the work we are putting in makes sense of it belonging to us stronger, because we put ourselves into it, which means some of us now belongs to it. I consider ownership more than just making a purchase or holding a deed - there is also the bond to it. It may not be a need for a technical ownership, but I think there is value in owning, partly because of the way it makes you feel.
Well - I am heading back upstairs in order to at least limit the amount of work for others so perhaps, instead of rolling walls, we can just have the pizza and beer together and enjoy our home.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]